Awake and Unafraid
by Phenylketonurics
Summary: I used to be Cera Bradley. But then Jashin must have decided that I was not worthy of immortality, because he let me die. I was reborn into my absolute favorite anime of all time, and now I am Senshi Akasen. Of course, I have to screw up the plot. Eventual Shikamaru/OC. Shenanigans. Rated T for language. *OC SI, takes the place of Sakura.
1. Chapter 1

**Oh my God don't hate me.**

**I started this early 2013, and it was up on my Ao3 account, but it was pushed to the side with school and everything. Now that I'm writing again, I'm also procrastinating - and this came out.**

**I'll still be working on some new Jedediah/Octavius and my Akatsuki Kitties, but for today, have two chapters of sleep-deprived bullshit.**

**Prologue**

I let out a distressed yell. Everything was disconcerting; I was dizzy, frightened, shaking, I didn't know what was going on, all I saw were blurs of colors and shapes that I couldn't identify, I hadn't done anything wrong, why was this happening - _what_ was happening?

_Shaking, rolling, crashing, noises - the car had been crushed, splintering, whiteness - a yell, darkness -_

But then my infantile body was placed in the warm arms of my mother - I couldn't see correctly, but I _knew _it was her. She smelled the same, and her heartbeat was the same. I quieted; she was my stability, the only thing that I understood.

_She was dead, she was dead, holy shit what was happening to me, it burned, was I dying too? Why could I not see? Who was yelling my name?_

Time passed, not that I understood it at all; I slept and ate and what might have been days later I could see a bit clearer and had calmed down exponentially. I was still most at comfort when I was with my mother, though - naturally.

I was soon in a new environment, which startled me, and there were new sounds and voices and sights and smells. But as weeks passed and this new place did not deviate I knew it was permanent. I continued my cycle of sleeping and eating and gradually I could define shapes and colors correctly. My mother had long, dark hair and striking green eyes. My father had hair a few shades darker than my mother and light hazel eyes. We lived in what I knew to be a traditional Japanese home.

I was content for the most part; nothing particularly exciting happened and I had no reason to complain, for my parents did all they could for me. My father was away every day, and sometimes for days upon weeks on end; I wasn't happy about it, but I figured that he must work, for my mother did not. I observed all of my surroundings, always, and knew things that I got the feeling that others of a couple months old did not know. The most frustrating things, however, were my inability to walk and speak. I saw people moving around me and even at six months old I was trying to catch up to them. I could make noises that seemed to sound somewhat as they were supposed to, but my mouth and tongue (and teeth, for that matter) had not yet developed enough for me to speak with others as I wished to.

Thankfully by the time I had spent a year in this life I was able to hobble around on my short baby legs, and pull off some semblance of a run. I was well on my way to being able to speak correctly, and often surprised adults with how much I knew. I myself did not know why; my own knowledge came as a surprise to me. I knew that I had not originally known this language - _Japanese - _and could recall several words and phrases in what I knew to be English. I did not speak it around others, though.

By the time I was two I knew that my father was a shinobi of Konohagakure in the Land of Fire. My mother was a civilian who stayed at home with me; she had married into my father's clan, the Akasen, who possessed a doujutsu kekkei genkai; really, it was basically enhanced vision and the ability to see in darkness - I quickly dubbed it the Trait of Boring. Not that I told anybody this.

When I was three I had taken to running around the streets of my lively village, talking to people and exploring everywhere I could. On days I was tired or feeling lazy, I would sit on a balcony on the village wall and watch the clouds or the people below. I had also started following shinobi around. They fascinated me, and they didn't seem to mind my presence. I knew that my parents did not necessarily want me to become a ninja and that it was not required by my clan, but it just seemed fitting. To quote one of my cousins, I was "smart as all Hell," and even at this age I knew that I was too restless to sit around and lead a normal life. No, that would not do for me.

It was just after my fourth birthday that I start to recall milestones in my life. One day I had woken up early and followed my father to the office of the Hokage where he would receive his mission. He was a chuunin, but was trying to get a position teaching the young children at the Academy.

I was clinging to the back of his pant leg, walking half behind him and clenching my other fist in the front of my dark blue shirt. It was the first time I had been in here, and my shyness was getting the better of me, a trait that was quite irritating.

We walked into the Mission Reception and the Third Hokage went on about whatever mission he was giving my father, but I wasn't paying attention. My eyes were everywhere; out the window, over the walls, at the chuunin sitting with the Hokage, at the multiple mission scrolls on the table -

"Senshi!" My father's voice cut through my scanning of my surroundings. I looked up at him with wide gray eyes.

"Father?"

"You may take your leave. There are things that I need to discuss with Lord Hokage."

I nodded quickly, bowed in the direction of the amused Hiruzen Sarutobi, and scampered out of the room. As I was walking down the street, I heard the sound of running footsteps behind me. Eyes widening, I turned just soon enough to have a boy run into me. He was a bit taller, maybe a year or two older, and had black, unruly hair and charcoal eyes. He was apologizing profusely as I sat up.

"I'm so sorry, I wasn't paying attention, sorry, I was just running home, my brother said he'd train with me, so sorry, I'm Sasuke Uchiha." He said all of this in one breath, to which I gave him a queer look before I noticed him holding out a hand - _that's an American custom, but whatever - _which I took hesitantly.

"I'm Senshi Akasen," I mumbled. He gave a grin and a wave.

"It was nice meeting you, Senshi, but I really have to go. Nii-san told me he'd let me train with-"

"I said you could _watch _me train, Sasuke," a voice stated from behind me. I whirled around and sure enough, an older-looking Uchiha boy was standing there, an amused look on his face. "I'm sorry if my younger brother gave you any trouble. I'm Itachi Uchiha. Come on, Sasuke, Father is expecting us home soon."

I waved at their retreating forms, Sasuke's whining reaching my ears. I gave a small smile. I liked the two Uchiha boys. Sure, I didn't really _know _either of them, but I could tell they were good people.

Several weeks later I decided I wanted to become a ninja.

I had my father start showing me some basics and he told me some about chakra, and what he didn't tell me I read about in the library. Months later I decided I would be ready to start at the Academy after my fifth birthday.

My birthday came as it did every August, and that September I was enrolled in Konohagakure's Ninja Academy.


	2. Chapter 2

**Yes, I'm aware that Akasen was the red light district in Japan. It has nothing to do with her or the story. I just like the word. I mean, Senshi is quite literally the Japanese word for "warrior." I'm lazy.**

**-o-**

"Ye-ah!" I shouted, bounding out the front door of the Academy. I had just become a genin.

Unable to wipe the grin off my face, I waved to my parents and jogged over to Sasuke, who I saw walking away. "Sasuke!" I called. He paused and turned his head, and waited as I caught up to him.

"You passed?" he asked.

"Of course I did! And obviously you did too."

"Hn." He turned his head away. I sighed.

"Listen, I'm happy for you. I know how much you want to get stronger. Just don't shut me out, okay?" He just looked at me so I shrugged and walked back to my parents.

Sasuke and I had become fast friends after our first run-in. I often saw his brother with him, and Itachi was nice. He shared his dango with me. But a few years ago he started acting weird, and Sasuke was worried. And then the Massacre happened - Itachi killed his entire clan, save for Sasuke. Since then, Sasuke threw himself into training, and while he was never hostile, he stopped seeking me out. But I gave him space. Couldn't push things like that.

"I'm so proud of you," my mother said as I walked up, spotting the hitai-ate I had secured around my waist. My father pulled me into a bone-crushing hug.

"Knew you had it in you, squirt."

I laughed. "I come back tomorrow for team assignments," I told them. They shared a look, which I wasn't quite sure about, before turning to lead me home.

Glancing around, I spotted a mass of orange and yellow sitting on one of the swings. I frowned.

"Hey, Mom, Dad, I'll meet you at home, alright?" At their confirmation I ran over to Naruto and stopped in front of him, hands on my hips. "So why the long face?"

He looked up, surprised. "I… I didn't pass."

My shoulders dropped a little bit. "Oh, well that's alright. There's always next year. Also, if you work really hard, I heard that sometimes Iruka-sensei lets students retake the test." The last part was a bluff, but he didn't need to know that. He just shrugged. "Well… listen, if you ever wanna come over for dinner or something, feel free. Our doors are always open." I grinned at his shocked expression. "Catch you later!" I turned and ran after my parents toward our compound.

Naruto seemed pretty upset, but I had a feeling that he would pass.

_BREAK_

"Dammit," I muttered, running down the street, frantically tying my forehead protector around my waist. I had overslept, and both my parents were out since early in the morning. I grinned as the Academy came into sight but skidded to a halt just before going in. I frowned, looking around. I could have sworn I'd sensed someone following me. I shook my head, writing it off as nervous

jitters.

I ran into the room, just barely stopping the door from smacking into the wall. Iruka-sensei looked at me, but he liked me, so he didn't get mad, just telling me to sit down. I sat in the empty seat next to Shikamaru, who was asleep.

I rested my chin on my hand and tuned out most of Iruka-sensei's speech. I already knew all of it, anyway. I picked my head up when I heard my name.

"Okay, Team 7… Akasen Senshi… Uzumaki Naruto…" I turned a grin to Naruto, who smiled back. "...And Uchiha Sasuke." I smiled widely and looked at him, but he looked pretty pissed. I sighed. Suddenly Naruto jumped up.

"Iruka-sensei! Why does an outstanding shinobi like me have to be on the same team as that prick?" I rolled my eyes.

"Naruto, sit down," Iruka-sensei said. "We do this to balance the teams. Sasuke's scores were the best out of all 27 graduates. Yours were dead last. Senshi had adequate written scores, and outstanding stealth and taijutsu scores. Understand?"

Naruto stated yelling at something Sasuke said and I let my head fall onto the table. Shikamaru, now awake, patted my shoulder sympathetically.

I was the first out of the room once Iruka-sensei instructed us to come back that afternoon to meet our Jounin sensei.

I walked toward home slowly, thinking. It would be hard, but I had to get Naruto and Sasuke to at least tolerate each other. A team is disfunctional at best if the teammates don't get along. We needed to trust each other.

_BREAK_

"Naruto, sit down."

"Shut up, Senshi, this serves him right for being late. Two hours!"

I just sighed and shook my head, going back to the book I was reading. Something about the effectiveness of clones. I wasn't really paying attention; my eyes kept flickering up to look at the door.

Suddenly the door slid open, and the eraser fell on a mass of unruly silver hair. I snorted and looked back down. I couldn't really take him very seriously, honestly.

"Let's see, my first impression of you three…" I looked up again, "I don't like you." I felt the room collectively sweatdrop before we were following him onto the roof.

"Alright, let's start with introductions. Name, likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams for the future, things like that." I nodded but Naruto piped up.

"Why don't you go first, sensei? Like an example!"

I sighed, thinking that he wasn't really helping himself in the 'I don't like you three' department.

He shrugged. "Fine. My name is Hatake Kakashi. I have no desire to tell you my likes or dislikes. Dreams for the future, hmm… and I have lots of hobbies."

I stared at him flatly, and he ignored me.

**Third Person!**

Kakashi watched his students' reactions. The girl didn't look amused in the least, and Naruto all but fell over. Sasuke just seemed indifferent. "Alright, now you three, start on the right."

He listened to Naruto ramble about ramen with indifference, and when he started yelling about being Hokage and getting acknowledged, he really wasn't surprised. He _was _surprised, however, when Sasuke said his dream.

"I have an ambition. To restore my clan, and to kill a certain man." Kakashi could guess who. He turned his eyes to the girl. Short, with wide gray eyes and dark red-brown hair, she was quite unremarkable, but he could see a large amount of wisdom in her.

"Alright," she grinned, "I'm Senshi Akasen. I like training and eating, and wrestling with my dogs." He wasn't surprised; the Akasen had an affinity toward animals, though they weren't nearly as in-tune with them as the Inuzuka, and they had a wider range, cats and dogs and even sometimes reptiles. "I don't like arrogance, and I hate when people underestimate me or my teammates. I don't really have any hobbies, reading I guess. My dream for the future…" Kakashi watched her as she looked down, biting her lip. "I want to become a Special Ops shinobi."

He blinked in slight surprise. She meant ANBU, clearly, which was strange. The Akasen clan didn't stress skill as a ninja, and their Tsugan wasn't very renowned. She was looking at him as if she expected him to laugh at her. But he pushed his surprise aside and stood.

"Right, tomorrow we'll do our first mission. More of a survival exercise, just the four of us." He waved off Naruto's complaints. "This time I'm your opponent." At their exclaims, he said, "I'm not sure you're gonna like this next part." He took a moment to survey them before continuing. "Of the 27 graduates, only 9 will be chosen to become genin. The rest go back to the Academy."

"But that's not fair!" This time it came from the Akasen girl. "That's basically lying to us!"

He shook his head. "No it's not. Now, meet me at Training Ground 6 at dawn. And you might want to skip breakfast, don't want you throwing up." And with one last closed-eye smile, he flashed away, leaving them to freak out by themselves.


End file.
